New World Bank guidance to help governments maximise carbon markets’ potential

The Integrity Council, UNFCCC, World Bank, have launched new practical guidance on government decision making on carbon markets published this week this week.

The guidance includes technical information for governments navigating decisions on carbon markets. Its aim is to provide a coherent supporting framework to countries that will enable them to maximise their carbon markets’ potential and achieve their climate and development goals.

Alongside the document, an infographic has been developed to clarify and visualise how each organisation’s efforts come together to support countries working to establish high integrity carbon markets.

The Integrity Council’s role, as part of this ecosystem, is to engage with governments and regulators to support seamless, harmonised transactions of high-integrity carbon credits across voluntary and compliance markets; create a market with communities at its heart; and lower barriers to market actors.

The work of the Integrity Council, including the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and our Continuous Improvement Work Programs (CIWPs), ), is referred to throughout the World Bank’s Country Guidance for Navigating Carbon Markets as helping to reinforce integrity, governance, coordination and integration across the global carbon market. The guidance highlights the role that the CCPs have played – and continue to play – in helping countries address gaps and challenges in the carbon market by offering a clear, comprehensive framework for assessing and monitoring the integrity, sustainability, and transparency of carbon crediting projects and methodologies. The document clearly shows the work that the Integrity Council has done to lay a strong foundation for a high-integrity carbon market as well as the resources now available to support countries globally as they engage in the carbon market space.

This week, the World Bank also published five further guidance notes on the continued improvement and strengthening of the voluntary carbon market. The notes cover a range of topics and reference the Integrity Council, the CCPs and the CIWP focusing on addressing infrastructure, standardisation and transparency challenges in the voluntary carbon market at length.

Annette Nazareth, Chair of the Integrity Council’s Governing Board said: “The Integrity Council is excited to launch Country Guidance for Navigating Carbon Markets, a collaborative effort convened by the World Bank with joint development by the Article 6 Implementation Partnership, GGGI, GIZ, VCMI, UNDP and the UNFCCC. The guidance reflects a shared commitment to strengthen coordination between the integrity council and major capacity building providers. The guidance will support countries around the world to develop high integrity carbon market frameworks and cooperative approaches using the CCPs as a threshold for high integrity to support Article 6 implementation. The CCPs can provide confidence that carbon crediting activities generate robust emissions reductions and removals, create social value and support Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities participation. Continued efforts to fortify the integrity of carbon markets are vital as the world looks ahead to the landmark COP30 summit later this year and as countries around the globe prepare their updated national climate action plans.”